INSIDE: l Ukrainophobia rages unchecked in Ukraine – page 3 l Klitschko trounces Povetkin in Moscow bout – page 9 l ‘Fashion, Ukrainian Style’ at The Ukrainian Museum – page 11 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXXI No. 41 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2013 $1/$2 in Ukraine Historic National Geographic photos Holodomor memorial receives on exhibit at Ukrainian Embassy in D.C. $2.5 M donation from Firtash Construction can now proceed in Washington U.S. Holodomor Committee WASHINGTON – For the past several years, the U.S. Committee for Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide Awareness 1932-33 has worked diligently to raise awareness within American society about one of the least known tragedies in the world – the 1932-1933 Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, or the Holodomor. In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Ukrainian Holodomor this year, the U.S. Holodomor Committee intends to continue this impor- tant work throughout 2013. One of the greatest achievements of the Ukrainian American community in the campaign to raise awareness about the Holodomor has been the allocation of fed- eral land in Washington for the establish- ment of a memorial dedicated to the vic- Dmytro Firtash WASHINGTON – With some of the National Geographic magazine’s early 20th century tims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide. photographs of Ukraine on the wall behind him, Terrence B. Anderson, executive vice- This tremendous effort, spearheaded by Washington, the National Park Service president of the National Geographic Society, participates in the opening on October 4 the Ukrainian Congress Committee of (NPS), and Hartman-Cox Architects, to at the Embassy of Ukraine of an exhibit of the magazine’s published photographs taken America (UCCA), led to federal approval of embark upon securing design concept in Ukraine. The exhibit contains 33 photographs, dating from 1918 to the present. Early land allocation in Washington, and the sign- approval for the memorial. As of October 1, next year, the exhibit will travel from Washington to other major U.S. cities, including ing into law of a bill by President George W. the National Park Service has issued the New York, Chicago and San Francisco. In April of this year, which marks the National Bush in 2006, that allowed the U.S. Embassy of Ukraine a construction permit Geographic Society’s 125th anniversary, it began publishing the magazine in Ukrainian. Holodomor Committee, in close coopera- – Yaro Bihun tion with the Embassy of Ukraine in (Continued on page 9) Antin Muharskyi stirs controversy on Ukraine’s cultural battlefront by Zenon Zawada feel better after a shot of 50 or 100 grams. What I do is analogous to alcohol, and one KYIV – Ukrainian culture has lost most needs to know how to enjoy this art.” of its gains from the Orange era in the last The “Zhlobolohiya” collection consists of three years as Moscow has flooded com- a 376-page book of commentary by 33 cul- mercial television and radio networks with tural leaders, including publisher Ivan its content. Meanwhile, homegrown goons Malkovych and iconic writer Yuriy take to the airwaves to denigrate, dismiss Andrukhovych, and a 250-page almanac of or ignore anything Ukrainian, creating a paintings, installations and photos in the hostile climate. Zhlob-Art genre that Mr. Muharskyi It’s these desperate times that have brought to the forefront in spring 2009 as given rise to Antin Muharskyi, 44, an icono- its curator and organizer. clastic showman, author and art curator In the view of the Zhlob-Art community, who’s giving the Ukrainian-bashers a taste zhlobstvo is not only the defining charac- of their own medicine. teristic of contemporary Ukrainian society In the last four years, he’s launched and culture, but at the same time its biggest numerous creative projects to defend problem. In the words of Zhlob- Ukrainian culture, which includes a heavy photographer Stas Volyazlovsky, “Zhlobstvo dose of constructive criticism, and combat is the essence of our post-Soviet reality and Russian chauvinism. What these efforts humus for my work.” have in common is that they’re sometimes “Zhlobolohiya” offers many definitions offensive, often vulgar, but always provoca- Zenon Zawada for what is a “zhlob” (plural: zhloby), a syn- tive. He insists that’s entirely appropriate Ukrainian patriot and iconoclast Antin Mukharskyi presents the “Zhlobolohiya” art onym for the Ukrainian word “kham.” The for the times we live in. almanac at the Salo Museum Party Bar in central Lviv on September 12. British equivalent is boor or lout, with the “Venom kills in certain amounts, but in best American equivalent as goon, poser, small doses it heals,” Mr. Muharskyi told Publishers Forum on September 12. post-Soviet Ukraine. and in some cases, white trash. The Weekly, a week before he presented “Zhlobolohiya” refers to the study of the “Alcohol is also a poison. If you drink a the “Zhlobolohiya” books at the Lviv cultural phenomenon of “zhlobstvo” in bottle, you become nauseated. But you may (Continued on page 8) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2013 No. 41 ANALYSIS Old game with new rules A petition for Tymoshenko’s release Yanukovych meets Komorowski KYIV – An official petition for the par- KYIV – Ukrainian President Viktor in Russia’s backyard doning of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yanukovych was in Krakow on October 7 to Yulia Tymoshenko has been signed by 166 meet with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski to discuss Kyiv’s prospects for by Brian Whitmore “The West has gotten much more national deputies. The leader of the signing an Association Agreement at an RFE/RL entrenched in these countries and the Batkivshchyna faction in Parliament, national consciousness is more developed,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said on October 9: “The upcoming EU summit in Vilnius. The talks A former Soviet republic has its sights he says. “People in Belarus or eastern European Parliament’s mission of [Pat] Cox come one month before Ukraine is expect- set on moving closer to Europe, a move Ukraine genuinely believe they are in a real and [Aleksander] Kwasniewski appealed to ed to sign the agreement during an Eastern staunchly opposed by Moscow. country, whereas back in the early 1990s it the Ukrainian president with a petition to Partnership summit in the Lithuanian capi- With the Kremlin’s tacit support, one of hadn’t clicked for a lot of people that the pardon Yulia Tymoshenko. And we, in sup- tal. One of the EU’s requests before Ukraine its majority ethnic-Russian cities votes to Soviet Union was over. So the national iden- port of this petition, collected the signatures signs the agreement is the release of secede, sparking fears of violent conflict. tities are stronger.” imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia of people’s deputies of Ukraine so that Officials in Moscow vow to defend the Mr. Lucas adds that trade in many post- Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year President [Viktor] Yanukovych could make rights of its smaller neighbor’s Russian- Soviet states has been “hugely reoriented” sentence for crimes related to a 2009 gas speaking residents. toward the West creating “a stronger base a decision.” He said that the petition to the deal with Russia. She says the charges are Ukraine or Moldova in 2013? Not quite. for European influence.” president had already been signed by 166 politically motivated. Poland, along with This scenario played out, peacefully in the MPs and 10 more were planning to sign the Sweden, has been the driving force of the Old habits die hard end, in the Estonian city of Narva during document. Mr. Yatsenyuk also said that Eastern Partnership program, which seeks the summer of 1993, less than two years Nevertheless, Moscow still has cards to none of the Party of Regions MPs had to draw ex-Soviet states closer to Western after the Soviet Union dissolved. Today, the play. signed the application. “By the end of the structures. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Russian-speaking residents of Narva – EU Strong networks continue to exist day the signatures collected will be sent to UNIAN and Polish Radio) passports in hand – are far less restive. between Russia’s political and business Viktor Yanukovych through the mission of The Kremlin’s current drive to prevent elites and those in its former Soviet neigh- Cox and Kwasniewski,” he said. (Ukrinform) Ukraine, Poland OK cooperation program bors. Corruption remains rife and many pre- Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova from signing KYIV – Ukrainian President Viktor Association Agreements with the European fer the clannish post-Soviet style of doing Yatsenyuk: all grounds exist for pardon Yanukovych and his Polish counterpart, Union has again focused attention on business than the more transparent model KYIV – Ukrainian President Viktor Bronislaw Komorowski, signed the program Moscow pressuring its neighbors into that integration with Europe would entail. Yanukovych has all legal grounds to sign an of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation for 2013- remaining in Russia’s sphere of influence. “The Russians know that their way of 2015. The signing ceremony took place as But as the averted conflict in Estonia two doing business is widely accepted in many act on pardoning former Ukrainian Prime part of the Ukrainian president’s working decades ago illustrates, this is nothing new. of these countries and that there are people Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, according to Almost from the moment the Soviet Union in the business and political elites in those the leader of the Batkivshchyna faction in visit to Poland on October 7. The program broke up in 1991, Russia has been leaning places who would prefer to operate in the the Verkhovna Rada, Arseniy Yatsenyuk. foresees that in 2013-2015 the two coun- hard on its former vassals – stoking con- Russian way,” says Mr.